Conveyor belts are typically used for conveying bulk material, such as foodstuffs or other materials, through a processing environment or from one location to another. Typical conveyor belts have the advantage that relatively little energy is required for transporting the bulk material. Certain conveyor belts employ multiple drives. For example, one or more intermediate drives may be used to drive a conveyor belt along an extended, winding or spiral conveyor path.
In conveyor systems that employ multiple drives for a conveyor belt, controls can be a problem. If the drives are not synchronized, the system can become imbalanced, potentially resulting in stress-related damage. Currently, detection and correction of imbalances must be done manually, which is imprecise and unreliable.